1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to methods of forming thin edible pieces, and in particular very thin edible pieces having novel contoured surfaces.
2. Description of the Related Art
The manufacture of thin edible pieces imposes significant technical constraints and challenges. Molding techniques and apparatus, such as those conventionally used for making molded chocolate products, place significant limitations on the product that may be obtained. For example, thin chocolate pieces cannot be molded using conventional techniques because demolding requires the mold to be turned over, and sometimes pounded, to release the solidified chocolate. Thin pieces lack the necessary weight relative to surface area to fall out of their own accord, and attempts to extract them from the mold would likely break them.
The constraints of mold design also limit the configuration of the molded products in other ways. Molded products are generally flat-backed, as the molded material must fill, and then sit in, the mold. Further, draft angles of the mold (also called release angles) must be at least about 7 degrees, preferably 8 to 10 degrees or greater to prevent pieces from becoming stuck in the mold. It is also very difficult to obtain a piece having sharp angles using conventional mold design, as air may be trapped in the recesses, making it difficult to remove the piece. See, e.g., P. Harbecke, The Creation and Manufacture of a Chocolate Mould, 39th P.M.C.A. Production Conference (1985).
Working by hand with chocolate (i.e., not in the context of making a manufactured confectionery product) chefs have been able to use the expedient of adding extenders, typically large amounts of corn syrup or other carbohydrate syrup, to allow the chocolate to be worked in a plastic state for a relatively long period of time before it sets. However, these items are intended for display, and are only rarely eaten, as the additives deleteriously effect the taste or texture of the chocolate product, which after initially attaining a fudge-like consistency quickly becomes dry and brittle.
Typically, as much as a third of the so-called ‘modeling chocolate’ is some type of corn or sugar syrup. Typically, SOI chocolates have a very low moisture content, usually below 1.0% by wt. This very low moisture is critical to the chocolate having the expected mouthfeel and flavor profile associated with pure chocolate products. With the introduction of such large amounts of syrups, the moisture contents are raised very significantly, perhaps to 10% or higher. The result is that the texture of the liquid chocolate becomes extremely viscous and fudge-like rather than fluid. Additionally, after the chocolate pieces age for a few days, the chocolate takes on a dry and brittle texture which is completely unsuitable for consumption as a normal chocolate product. Thus, there continues to be a need for techniques and apparatus for forming very thin chocolate products having complex shapes which are made out of pure chocolate without using extenders.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,171 B1 describes a method and device for producing thin pieces of chocolate having curved surfaces. The apparatus comprises a flexible forming belt on which slices of chocolate are deposited. The flexible belt is passed through a trough having narrower width than the belt, forcing the sides of the belt to bend upwards and imparting a simple curvature to the slice. The belt and slice are passed through a cooling tunnel in this position, to form solidified curved chocolate slices. A flexible, continuous, forming substrate, like the flexible belt described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,171 B1, can hold only a limited number of stable forming positions while it is conveyed through the cooling tunnel. Consequently, the surface contours of the pieces that can be manufactured with that apparatus are limited as a practical matter to simple bends.
Thus, there continues to be a need in the art for processes and apparatus which can be used to form very thin edible pieces, and for methods of forming thin edible pieces into contoured designs. There is a particular need for such processes and apparatus that can be used to manufacture and impart contour to very thin chocolate pieces, even using Standard of Identity chocolate that has not been adulterated with extenders.